Lack of All-Star Representation and Snubs one more example of Mets Roster Building Disaster

The All-Star Game has come and gone with the American League defeating the National League 4-0. Although roster debates and snubs are in the rearview mirror as we get set for the second “half” of the 2026 MLB season, the conversations surrounding the NL roster should serve as a microcosm as to what has led to a very disappointing season for the team from Queens. 

For Mets fans, it was a sight for sore eyes to watch Juan Soto bat second for the NL squad and pick up the first of just three total hits for the senior circuit. In a lost season that has already seen the front office trade away one of its pitchers, Soto has been one of the lone bright spots for New York. Although it should not be a surprise to anyone, no one else represented the Mets in Philadelphia. 

The Mets were among one of four National League teams to only have one representative. Having solely one person doesn’t necessarily mean you have a bad team, as the Chicago Cubs also only had one player on the roster (ironically a former Met in Pete Crow-Armstrong). Yes, you have players like Carson Benge and Luke Weaver, who have come on strong since the first month of the season, but there never seemed to be a serious debate or conversation that the Mets would have a second all-star. 

When the initial rosters were released, arguably the biggest talking point were the snubs, even over the players that actually made the team. Guys like Wilson Contreras, Foster Griffin, Nick Martinez and Justin Wrobleski were all left off of the initial roster when it was announced. 

Everyone knew that at least some of the most notable snubs would make the team after other players couldn’t participate for one reason or another. Even when each roster was finalized, a lot of deserving names still failed to make the cut including Michael Harris II, Luis Garcia Jr. and Sonny Gray. Of course, these are not the only snubs. One can make a strong argument that Luke Weaver should have been included on this list, maybe over fellow relief pitcher Riley O’Brien. 

We can nitpick if the Mets should have had a second player on the squad, but the lack of representation to go along with the lack of snubs serves as a perfect explanation as to why New York finds itself at the bottom of the NL East and the league as a whole. It hasn’t helped that Jorge Polanco and Francisco Lindor missed significant time this year with injuries, but when you look around the diamond, how many players are in the top 10 at their position solely in the NL? 

Nobody on the Mets deserved to make it at first base. In fact, one of teams that also had just one representative, the Colorado Rockies, could have argued that underrated rookie T. J. Rumfield was a snub and had a strong case to snag a spot. Marcus Semien was nowhere close to making it at second base, especially considering the NL team didn’t even have room for guys like Brandon Lowe and Brice Turang. Although it has a lot to do with injuries, Lindor wasn’t on the short list of backup options at shortstop in case CJ Abrams or Otto Lopez couldn’t give it a go. 

Bo Bichette has been a disappointment after the front office pivoted to him after losing out on Kyle Tucker. The hot corner was the weakest position in the NL (Sal Stewart made it as the backup), but someone like Curtis Mead, who the Washington Nationals got for cheap, has completely outperformed the Mets’ $42 million per year man. Francisco Alvarez had a nice start to the season, but he also spent a lot of time on the injured list. Finally, the outfield. 

Soto was a very deserving starter among a plethora of options. If the teams weren't divided by the AL and NL, all six starting outfield spots would have gone to the National League. Benge is having an impressive rookie year after a slow start, but he was never in serious contention of being named to the midsummer classic. 

Despite the AL surrendering only three hits on Tuesday night, the NL has been the better and deeper league through the middle of July. Seeing the number of all-stars each team has is typically a good representation of the overall strength of the roster. This isn’t always the case, as each team needs at least one representative and the fan vote can cause some chaos (sorry, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. should not have been an All-Star this year). 

That’s why you need to look one or two levels deeper to see who just missed the cut. That can speak to a team’s depth and overall talent. It even feels like an All-Snub team would form quite the strong bunch, but if that team did come to fruition, how many Mets would even be on that list? Benge might have a solid case, but it might not be clearcut. Weaver would most likely make it as a reliever as the sole Met. 

The lack of conversations surrounding who, if anyone, was snubbed from the Mets roster is a great example of what has gone wrong for the franchise this season. It shows how much of a failure David Stearns’ plan turned out to be. 

Stearns is still a smart executive, who I would have no problem keeping around, but the roster construction for 2026 has fallen flat on its face. In order to really get the full picture, don’t just look at the names who did make it to the city of brotherly love but also the men who just missed the cut.

Alex Rubinson - Mets Should Look in Untapped Market to find next Manager

The New York Mets fired Manager Carlos Mendoza two weeks ago, and it’s clear that Andy Green will not be taking over as the team’s full time skipper in 2027 and beyond. Green was never expected to be more than just the interim, but as Steve Cohen and David Stearns look ahead to the offseason, they have most likely already started putting together a preliminary list of candidates that they are interested in interviewing. The duo will start doing background research and asking around the league on these prospective candidates before the end of the current season. 

Names have already been thrown out as pure speculation. Guys such as Carlos Beltrán, Alex Cora and Albert Pujols have been just a few of the names on early lists. It’s no secret that being the lead man in New York (regardless of sport) is a different animal. There are more eyes on you than any other city in the United States. For that reason alone, many prefer a seasoned veteran (Alex Cora fits that bill), but just like any search (not just in sports), the Mets can’t afford to leave any stone unturned. 

As I mentioned in previous articles, MLB experienced unprecedented turnover this past offseason when a third of teams changed skippers. A large chunk of these managerial hires might have been seen as commonplace. 

The Atlanta Braves promoted Walt Weiss from bench coach. Weiss also had experience as the former manager of the Colorado Rockies from 2013-2016. Similarly, the Texas Rangers gave Skip Schumaker a second chance at being a manager after he was the Miami Marlins skipper just a few years ago. The Baltimore Orioles hired Cleveland Guardians' bench coach Craig Albernaz to lead their organization this past offseason as well. Hiring someone who was just a bench coach or field manager is the most common path, but for better or worse, it is not the only road. 

Although it has not worked out thus far (in fact, it has been a disaster), I still commend the San Francisco Giants from bucking the trend and turning to the college ranks when Buster Poesy and company hired Tony Vitello. Maybe it was also destined to fail, but we see professional teams hire from the college ranks all the time in other sports. I get that unlike most sports, baseball draftees spend years in the minor leagues before reaching the big leagues, but I still believe teams need to take chances. 

Another unconventional hire this past offseason was the NL East rival Washington Nationals hiring Blake Butera, the youngest MLB manager in half a century. Butera did manage a few seasons in the low minors but had since been high up in the Tampa Bay Rays’ player development department over the previous couple of seasons. The Nats have not had a perfect season by any stretch, but for a team that was predicted to lose 100-plus games and be in contention for the worst team in baseball, Butera and the rest of the staff have helped the team play well above expectations. 

So what does all of this mean for the Mets? Most likely, they are going to heavily pursue someone like Cora or a current MLB bench coach. That might be the right course of action, especially given the aforementioned climate in the big apple. With that being said, Cohen and Stearns would be doing the organization a disservice if they only looked at one type of manager. Of course, this is subject to change if you can get Cora to sign on the dotted line. One of the biggest reasons to conduct a broad managerial search isn’t even necessarily to hire a guy but to get an honest outside perspective on the organization. 

As we enter the back half of the 2026 season and will eventually turn our attention to 2027, I still don’t understand why other assistant coaches are not given a more serious look to lead a franchise. It appears only bench coaches and field coordinators are serious candidates on a major league staff to be plucked. That shouldn’t be the case. 

One of the prime candidates that comes to mind is Kyle Snyder, the pitching coach for the Rays since 2018. Tampa Bay does more with less on a yearly basis. Once again, they were predicted to finish near the bottom of the AL East and now see themselves as standing atop of the entire American League. The Rays develop pitching like just about no other organization (the Guardians and Milwaukee Brewers would like a word). Wouldn’t you want to at least interview the pitching coach behind all of that? Griffin Jax was a really solid reliever, who had a marvelous 2024 campaign. After the Rays acquired him at last year’s trade deadline, they have turned him into a really good starting pitcher. Jax has a 2.89 ERA since he became a full-time starter in Tampa's rotation. The jump from pitching coach to manager is a big step. I understand the two positions require separate skillsets, but the fact that teams don’t dive into this market is puzzling. 

Another name I would throw out there is Chris Hook of the Brewers. Like Snyder, he was hired as his team’s pitching coach in 2018, when Stearns was running the team’s baseball operations. Under Hook’s leadership, we have seen studs like Corbin Burnes and Brandon Woodruff blossom and reach their full potential. Jacob Misiorowski always had other-worldly raw stuff, but he has been completely unleashed under Hook and the rest of the staff. He has also been responsible for revitalizing the career of Kyle Harrison, who is one of the top All-Star snubs this season.

Hook and Snyder are just two examples across the MLB landscape. Teams have put together complex hitting and pitching labs. Nobody would have expected the Nationals to be the best offensive team in baseball heading into the midsummer classic. Maybe it doesn’t make sense for the Mets to pursue this type of candidate given the unique nature of the New York market, but it doesn’t hurt to pick up the phone and bring in these types of candidates for an interview. In an era and an age where teams aren’t afraid to be unconventional and where teams will look to find talent under any rock, I still have not put together why teams don’t hire more pitching and hitting coaches to be managers. Maybe the Mets will be one of the first organizations to seriously explore that avenue and unlock that route for managers moving forward.

Alex Rubinson - Mets Need to get Everyone onto One Timeline

Patience is a virtue…or so they say. That saying doesn’t really apply to sports anymore and hasn’t for quite some time. Owners across the sports landscape are growing more and more impatient by the year. 

Remember when owners were willing to give the people they hired a full opportunity to see their plans through? Gone are the days of the five-year rebuild. That used to be standard in baseball. Now, we have managers fired after making the postseason. 

Executives are under more pressure to win on a yearly basis than ever before, especially with three wild car spots in each league. We are used to seeing turnover in football, but just this past offseason, MLB saw a third of its league undergo a managerial change. 

As we enter July and are fewer than two weeks from the all-star break, three managers and one general manager have already been let go. Baseball used to be the game without a clock. The pitch clock changed that. For executives and managers, the pitch timer isn’t the only thing that is constantly ticking down. 

We are now one week into the Andy Green era as the New York Mets Manager. I don’t expect that time period to last past the early fall months. After a lot of speculation going back to the middle of April, the Mets relieved Carlos Mendoza of his managerial duties. The move wasn’t a surprise by any stretch. 

It was only a matter of time. Mendoza certainly wasn’t to blame for all of the Mets woes and should be able to find a job somewhere lower on the totem poll elsewhere. Having said that, it had become abundantly clear that Mendoza’s message was not registering with the rest of the team. 

The clubhouse was not responding and didn’t appear to play with a sense of urgency unlike what transpired back in 2024. Overall, I don’t have a huge problem with making midseason changes. It has become commonplace in sports in the year 2026. What is puzzling is what transpired in the offseason that may have led to this very moment. 

As I outlined last week, the Mets may have made a giant mistake letting go of pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, who has enjoyed success early in his tenure with the Atlanta Braves. Of course, Hefner was far from the only coach let go after a second half collapse last year. The Mets completely overhauled their coaching staff under Mendoza. 

I am not saying that Mendoza deserved to be fired this past offseason, as he was only one year removed from being two wins away from a World Series berth, but the key to an organization is alignment. Most people look at alignment between the top decision-maker in an organization (David Stearns in this case) and the manager, but it’s just as important to have alignment between the manager and the rest of the coaching staff. 

This isn’t to say that there was mixed messaging in New York’s clubhouse, but typically you want everyone on the same timeline. As soon as you part ways with the coaches but keep the manager, you are separating the timelines. 

When the Mets hire their next manager, I don’t expect any coaches to be forced onto his coaching staff. We should see the manager and coaches re-aligned next season, but where does that leave the current batch of coaches? Most of them will most likely be fired and be forced to seek employment elsewhere. Some might be able to return to their former organizations, but others will be on the outside looking in. 

If you’re a coach on another team and the Mets approach you about an opening as an assistant, would that job be appealing? The Mets won’t have any trouble filling their vacancies given the lack of supply in the market, but if you were an up-and-comer with multiple teams showing interest in your services, would the Mets be the dream destination? You just saw a whole bunch of people that the franchise targeted get let go a season later. 

Maybe I’m on an island, but I still believe David Stearns is a smart baseball man, sometimes he might even be too smart for his own good. I think there is a healthy debate to be had on if he should keep his job beyond this season. Although I would have no problem keeping Stearns, you would be running into the same problem outlined above. 

An incumbent head executive bringing in a new manager. Stearns and the new manager might share a similar philosophy, but the two timelines would not be aligned. 

As of now, what is the direction of the organization? A sinking team with a robust payroll and a mediocre farm system. Yes, Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing have shown they can be staples of a big league roster. Them along with Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto should form a very good core, but the team needs more than that. 

Stearns came from an organization that could develop pitching like it was nothing. They could self-scout so well that they knew every member of their entire organization like the back of their hand. This Mets team has yet to show that. With everyone’s focus being on the future of Stearns (along with Mendoza before he was fired), not many have looked at what 2027 will look like…assuming we are playing baseball. 

If you keep Stearns, you are most likely trying to double down on a flawed roster with a brand new manager. Would Stearns get at least two years, or would you fire him and keep the new manager and have both men on opposite timelines? 

Stearns is more than qualified and competent enough to lead a big league organization, but the Mets need to get everyone on the same page, and more importantly, the same timeline. They need to pick a clear path and avoid being directionless, which is where the organization currently stands. Steve Cohen is entering a crossroads once the Citi Field lights shut off for the final time in 2026. His ensuing decisions will dictate the direction of the franchise for years to come. Forget about trying to win a championship in the next three to five years (of course that's still the ultimate goal), right now, it’s just about everyone’s three-to-five year timeline all on one level field.

Alex Rubinson - The One that got Away: Former Mets Pitching Coach Thriving with NL East Rival

The 2025 New York Mets season has been well-documented. At this time last season, the Mets seemed poised for a deep playoff run and was considered a true championship contender. Instead, the second half hit New York like a pile of bricks. After its second half collapse, David Stearns and Carlos Mendoza made sweeping changes. Although there was initially a thought that Mendoza could lose his job as the manager, Stearns kept Mendoza in place while changing just about every other coach on the staff. 

One of the moves made was firing pitching coach Jeremy Hefner. Hefner had been the coaching pitch for the Mets since 2019, so the firing showed the organization was serious about changing its ways. It didn’t take long for Hefner to find work. About a month later, the division-rival Atlanta Braves brought in the pitching coach in the same role. 

Although the Mets and Braves had very different 2025 seasons, both teams were viewed as two of the biggest disappointments in baseball with questions heading into 2026. Atlanta promoted Walt Weiss to manager after Brian Snitker retired. Heading into 2026, the Braves figured to have a potent offense, but significant questions remained regarding their pitching staff. 

It didn’t help that Spencer Schwellenbach has missed the entire season to this point and Spencer Strider is back on the injured list after making a grand total of eight starts. Outside of Chris Sale and Bryce Elder, the Braves have had to piece together their rotation after not making any significant moves in the offseason. The Mets have had their own injuries to deal with, but the team figured to have solid depth while their top starters entering the season, Freddy Peralta and Nolan McLean, have stayed healthy. 

Despite who has made up the two respective pitching staffs, the Braves are currently second in all of baseball to the New York Yankees in ERA. The team is also top five in WHIP and opponent batting average. The Mets aren’t too far behind in opponent batting average, but they are about league average in ERA and WHIP. Given the investments each team made in the offseason, that’s not how it should be. If you had told Alex Anthopoulos and company that Atlanta would be a top five pitching staff in baseball as we hit the midway point in the season, he would have been thrilled even before taking into account the injuries. 

It’s even more impressive that the Braves' starters are sixth in both ERA and opponent average. Meanwhile, the Mets rotation is in the bottom four in starters’ ERA. 

Monday night is a great example of the Braves success. Despite a 1-0 loss to the Padres, Grant Holmes was very good in 4.2 innings. Holmes has been league average for Atlanta in 15 starts this season. Holmes is only in his third year in the league and only had seven starts in his rookie season. He is on pace to blow by his career high in innings (115 last season). His control can be erratic with 4.5 walks per nine innings, but he has done a good job at keeping the ball in the yard. 

Martín Pérez has been a revelation for the Braves. The 35-year-old lefty is pitching to a 2.78 ERA with a 1.07 WHIP. He barely gives up the long ball and has been almost 50% better than league average. Pérez signed a minor league contract with the Braves just to keep his career alive. Now, the southpaw is thriving under Hefner’s leadership. The Braves are still waiting for top prospect JR Ritchie to come into his own, but the rookie has already shown he has very good breaking stuff with a plus two run value on those pitches. 

The expected statistics show that the Mets have been unlucky. The team is actually fourth in expected slugging against and sixth in expected opponent average. The staff is also very good at preventing hard contact. They are top 10 in both average opponent exit velocity along with hard hit rate, just ahead of the Braves in both metrics. Maybe things will balance out as we enter the second half of the season, as it does appear the Mets are better than their league average statistics would suggest. On the other hand, the underlying metrics don’t tell the whole story. 

Freddy Peralta is in the bottom seven among qualifiers in ERA. His expected ERA is a full run lower, so he shouldn’t be nearly as bad as what he has shown. His fastball is still a plus pitch, but even if his ERA was 3.83 instead of 4.83, that is still not living up to the ace that Mets fans expected when the team acquired him in the offseason. 

McLean has been very good with a couple of rough appearances inflating his numbers, but his bright red baseball savant page shows that he can be an ace in the near future. You’re just putting a lot on a rookie’s shoulders if he needs to be your stopper every fifth day. 

After the 2025 season concluded, two NL East rivals were at a crossroads. It was a pivotal point in the direction of both clubs. Both teams addressed their bullpens while the Mets made a big investment in their rotation. Fair or not, the Mets pointed the finger at Hefner when they fired him, and the Braves scooped him up. Now, the Braves have a top pitching staff in baseball despite only two starters having enough innings to qualify, while the Mets appear destined to sell at the trade deadline with more questions than answers for the rest of 2026 and beyond. 

Alex Rubinson - How Does Juan Soto Stack Up Among NL Outfield Elite?

MLB released its first update on its 2026 All-Star voting on Monday with the first round of voting set to close a week from today. After the first round ends, the top two players at each position (six in the outfield) will move onto the finalist round. 

With the All-Star Game about a month away, I will use this as a reminder that every one of the 30 teams must be represented. With the New York Mets sitting well below .500 as one of the most disappointing teams in baseball, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the National League team will not be littered with players from Queens. 

As it stands right now, it feels very clear that Juan Soto will be the team’s lone representative in the midsummer classic, but how does the $765 million man compare to his competition in the NL outfield? 

Soto currently ranks ninth in NL voting among outfielders, so he would fail to qualify for the final round of voting. Andy Pages, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Brandon Marsh are the leaders as of today with Michael Harris II, Teoscar Hernández and Jordan Walker rounding out the top six (James Wood and Corbin Carroll also are ahead of Soto). As usual, fans have gotten a couple of things correct, but it’s also clear that the voting process is still a popularity contest. 

Note: All statistics are as of this past Tuesday.

Despite missing time due to injury, Soto is having a very on brand season. The left-handed slugger is posting a .290/.389/.555 slash line. His .944 OPS is second among all NL outfielders. Based on that alone, Soto should certainly be in the top six in voting and potentially crack the starting lineup. Of course, the only player ahead of Soto in OPS is the man he was traded for in Wood. As mentioned above, Wood would also fail to even qualify for the final round in the fan vote. 

Soto might be getting penalized by his lack of games played. The corner outfielder has only appeared in 55 games. Although that’s not terrible, the vast majority of players ahead of him in the voting have been around or above 70 games played. Acuña Jr. is the outlier, having only appeared in 53 contests. 

If Acuña Jr. is second in voting, Soto should be right there with him and not be penalized with lack of games played. In fact, it’s even more impressive that Soto is tied with Pages in HRs among NL outfielders with 15. Only Ian Happ, Walker and the aforementioned Wood are ahead of Soto in that category. 

I don’t think players should be elevated or penalized based on the team they play for, but Soto’s numbers stand out even more when considering how disappointing the Mets offense has been. As New York has dealt with numerous injuries as well, Soto has not enjoyed any protection in the lineup. 

Soto’s patient approach has gone a long way towards his overall offensive output this season. Despite missing time due to injury, Soto is still eighth in walks among outfielders in his league. He has walked more than he has struck out, which shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, but it really is put in perspective when compared to the seven players ahead of him. Wood has the most walks among NL outfielders but has nearly 100 strikeouts on the season.

Even with the large strikeout numbers, it’s clear that Wood should be one of the starting outfielders when the NL takes the field in Philadelphia next month, but who should be awarded the other two spots? For the purposes of cutting down the field, let’s just take a look at the other eight in the voting update. 

Although he has the glamour and is currently tracking to cruise to the next round, I think we can rule out Acuña Jr. among players who should be in contention to start the All-Star Game and the same can be said for Hernández, who is currently on the injured list. Maybe, I am just being too nice and wanting someone to gain recognition for a breakout performance, but Walker’s breakout year is deserving of locking down one of the other slots. 

The St. Louis Cardinals late bloomer has the most hits among NL outfielders with an OPS north of .900. Hits and RBI might be things of the past, but Walker is the biggest reason St. Louis has been one of the biggest surprises in all of baseball. His baseball savant page is more red than the Cardinals’ city connect jerseys. 

That leaves just one more spot, and I’m going to rule out Pages. The Dodgers outfielder has been a huge boost with Mookie Betts and Kyle Tucker struggling mightily. He is tied with Walker when it comes to driving in runs, and definitely is deserving to make it as a reserve, but his slash line doesn’t compare favorably to the other top contenders. For most voters, people might lean towards Carroll, who is very deserving, but my last vote would go in an unorthodox direction. 

Mets fans might kill me for saying this, but I would actually lean towards Harris II. Harris II is currently hitting north of .300 with 14 bombs. I don’t have a problem with Soto grabbing the spot over the Braves centerfielder, but Harris has a nice balance of contact and power. Plus, he is in the 95th percentile in outs above average (it also doesn't hurt that Harris II can be the NL's centerfielder). Harris II is probably not the popular choice and doesn’t have the OPS numbers, but he has been a huge reason Atlanta has not missed a beat despite Acuña Jr. and Drake Baldwin being forced to miss time. 

The reserves in the NL will also be fascinating. Soto deserves to be one of them independent of likely being the Mets’ lone representative. After Soto, I would give the edge to Carroll and Marsh. Carroll currently has 35 extra-base knocks (including eight triples).

I also went with Marsh because his .324 average is refreshing in the year 2026. You could make the case that Jung Hoo Lee of the Giants is just as deserving due to an even higher average, but I gave Marsh the tiebreaker due to his OPS being over 40 points higher. If the NL does carry a seventh outfielder (they did so last year), Pages would be my pick. Pages had a great start to the year but has since cooled off. He is tied with Walker for the most RBI in all of baseball, but that is also aided by hitting behind Shohei Ohtani. 

The NL outfield is arguably the deepest position on the ballot this summer. That shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given the overall strength of the NL compared to the AL. Even if the Mets had multiple All-Star selections, Soto would be deserving regardless to make the final roster. Given he did miss time earlier in the season, I had a hard time putting him in as the starter, but based on my selections above, either he or Carroll should be the first man off of the bench.

Alex Rubinson - Forever Young: Mets Hope First Baseman's Hot Stretch Lives Forever

The New York Mets made the unpopular decision in the offseason to let homegrown star Pete Alonso head towards the beltway to join the Baltimore Orioles. David Stearns was hoping to spread out the money saved on Alonso throughout the rest of the roster. The team inked Jorge Polanco to a multi-year contract with the plan to play him at first. The team also had Mark Vientos on the roster, who was not that far removed from a breakout 2024 campaign. As the Mets season has spiraled, the team has gotten solid production at first base lately. It’s not just from the player that anyone expected. 

Coming into the week, Jared Young had only played in 22 games. The sample size is incredibly small, but his .291/.375/.509 slash line has been a pleasant surprise to both the fan base and the front office. If Young qualified, his .884 OPS would be second on the team to Juan Soto. Young has been red hot and has provided an offensive spark since he was activated off of the injured list on May 26th. He has a 150 wRC+ on the year. Essentially, Young has been 50% better than the average hitter in his limited playing time. 

Although Young’s performance might be more of a flash in the pan, his process has greatly improved at the dish. He still strikes out a quarter of the time, which is not ideal, but that number is still down almost 10% compared to 2024 and would be the lowest of his MLB career. In addition to him striking out less often, he is also drawing more free passes. His 11 percent walk rate is above average to begin with, but it looks even better when taking into account he only walked four percent a season ago. 

Young has been very lucky with .351 batting average on balls in play, but that also stems from him squaring everything up. He currently has a hard hit rate of over 52% with a barrel rate of nearly 18%. The hard hit rate has jumped about 13 percentage points compared to 2025. His expected average of .284 is not that far off from his actual average. Plus, his expected slug (.514) is slightly higher than what Young was slugging coming into the week (.509). His walk rate has also been a main contributor as to why Young xWOBA is just a couple of clicks under the .400 mark. 

Even if Young’s BABIP is destined to regress, the quality of contact has been so good that Young’s numbers shouldn’t suffer astronomically. The most stark contrast is the fact that Young has gained seven miles per hour on his average exit velocity. It currently stands at 92 MPH, which is not that far off from a hard hit ball by MLB’s definition. 

Young has shown tremendous improvement regardless of fastball or offspeed, but it’s still fascinating to look at the breakdowns of where he has taken the biggest strides. Specifically against the four-seamer, Young has cut his whiff rate by 20%. Last year, he was under the Mendoza line when it came to hitting any type of fastball. This year, his average is up over 200 points. It’s ironic that his slugging has gone down from last year, but his more consistent approach has allowed me to produce better overall results against hard stuff. The exact opposite is true when facing offspeed pitches. Young’s average has taken a hit, but is doing more damage. 

His slugging is way up, and there is reason to believe he has also been unlucky. Although he only has a .222 average versus offspeed pitches, his expected average sits nearly at .295. Although he posted a very respectable .286 average last on offspeed stuff, his expected average was under .150. Yes, Dusty Baker was famous for saying he only cared about exit hits, Young’s performance on offspeed pitches this season should improve while his performance last year was not sustainable. 

This season, Young has pulled the ball in the air 20% of the time. That’s actually not the highest in his career (2023 takes it), but the biggest difference is Young being more on time. Typically when you are pulling the ball, you are more out in front, which allows you to unlock more of that power. If you are going to the opposite field, you are typically late. 

Hitters have success both ways, but when lifting the ball, most players want to pull it (unless you’re Aaron Judge or James Wood). This season, Young’s opposite field air rate is under three percent. That is way down from about 29% a season ago. 

Fangraphs and Baseball Savant have also graded Young as a slightly above average defender. It can’t be easy given Young has played a few games in the outfield along with spending most of his time at first base. Both websites have him as a plus-one in fielding run value with Fangraphs also having him at plus-one in outs above average, explaining that Young has better than average range. 

Jared Young’s current OPS is over 100 points higher than what he has posted in his career. His average is 60 points higher than his career number. It’s too far to say that Young is quickly becoming a .300/.400/.500 player, who has unlocked a few extra gears in his age 30 season. Remember, he had only tallied 64 plate appearances coming into the series against the St. Louis Cardinals. 

With that being said, Young is checking off every underlying statistical box that one wants to see in 2026. He is striking out less and walking more. He is pulling his flyballs. Despite a high BABIP, his expected numbers point towards him not being lucky. Although he might not play a premium position, his defense is getting better with age. Jorge Polanco appeared on the precipice of making his return to Queens but has been shut down due to ankle soreness that popped up during his rehab stint. Whether Polanco is forced to miss just an extra week or a whole other month, Carlos Mendoza needs to find ways to get Young consistent opportunities. Carson Benge’s breakout is probably more sustainable and beneficial for the Mets’ long-term plans, but Young is proving that he can be more of a player than his constant shipped to and from the minor leagues.

Alex Rubinson - The Mets Need to Fully Unleash Jonah Tong

Let’s go back to the 2018 postseason. The most iconic moment during that October was a young Milwaukee Brewers hurler in Brandon Woodruff shocking the world by hitting a bomb off of Clayton Kershaw, the future slam dunk Hall of Famer. It was even more impressive that it was lefty versus lefty. 

The Brewers would lose that series, but they did take game one with Woodruff being the hero on the mound and at the plate. What most people forget about that contest is that Milwaukee’s starter that day was not Woodruff but Gio Gonzalez. Woodruff was the second pitcher to enter the game in what was a bullpen game for the Brewers. 

So what does this 2018 moment have to do with the 2026 New York Mets? Back when he was running the show in Milwaukee, David Stearns often got his top pitching prospects acclimated to the big leagues by throwing them into reliever roles, like what we saw with Woodruff. 

It’s hard to argue against the philosophy given Milwaukee's history of developing pitchers. With that being said, that idea should not be universal in how every pitcher is treated, which brings us to the present day Mets. 

Yesterday, New York optioned prized prospect Jonah Tong down to AAA after his third appearance of the season. Although we expected Tong to get most of the work on Tuesday night, it was still a mystery as to how Stearns and Carlos Mendoza would deploy the righty. As I outlined above, using young future starting pitchers in the bullpen can be a successful way to get them comfortable pitching at the big league level. 

It also needs to be determined on a case-by-case basis with a heavy influence being on the state of the team. The Brewers embraced pitching chaos and had a history of being able to execute it effectively. The Mets have had more success as of late, but with the starting rotation struggling, it made very little sense to use Tong out of the bullpen. 

After Clay Holmes suffered a fractured fibula that will hold him out for the foreseeable future, the Mets didn’t have an immediate replacement. This went along with David Peterson’s struggles in the starting five along with Sean Manaea being relegated to the bullpen before a promising bulk outing on Monday. All of this is to say that Tong should be a staple of the Mets rotation going forward. 

Tong’s outings won’t always be pretty (3.1 innings and four earned runs in his last appearance out of the bullpen illustrated that). He’s still young and will undergo a lot of growing pains. Maybe I am naive in thinking the Mets season is still far from over. Although it hurts to be in the National League compared to the American League, teams have comeback from greater deficits. 

With that being said, this is still a team that is well under .500. As Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing injected some life into the lineup, the youth movement should not stop there but instead extend to the rotation. 

Although the sample size is incredibly small, some of the numbers coming into Tong’s bulk outing on Tuesday were intriguing. Even with his clunker on Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners, Tong had induced plenty of weak contact. He has a minuscule barrel rate of just six percent with a 30% hard hit rate. 

Opponents are unable to square up any of Tong’s pitches. Prior to his last appearance, the young right-hander had an incredible 55% ground ball rate. Some of these values are in large part due to Tong barley pitching in 2026, but even if there is some regression to the mean built in, this might be the type of pitcher Tong blossoms into. 

The weak contact had helped Tong pitch to a .168 opponent batting average in his first couple of bullpen outings. When comparing his first two appearances this year to a season ago, he had cut his barrel rate by two-thirds and increased his ground ball rate by nearly 15 percentage points. 

Although it got roughed up on Tuesday, Tong had a fastball run value of two coming into that day. Last year, in limited playing time, it was at negative four. A plus-six jump is monumental. 

Tong isn’t throwing any harder than he did a year ago. Instead, he is actually throwing fewer four-seam fastballs. Maybe this changes as he works deeper into ballgames, but cutting back on the pitch has made it more lethal. 

His four-seamer is still his primary pitch, but instead of going to it 57% of the time in 2025, that is now down to 45% this season. The pitch that has potentially taken his repertoire up a notch? That would be a cutter. Tong did not have a cutter in his back pocket a season ago, but he has gone to that pitch over 20% of the time (including a hefty number against Seattle). The cutter has made up for fewer four-seam fastballs, while also cutting his curveball usage in half. 

Tong was one of the hottest pitching prospects in all of baseball before making his debut towards the end of last season. No one should have any takeaways based on the minimal sample he has showed the baseball world. What has not been fair to him in his short 2026 stint is the lack of clarity with how he is being used. 

It’s quite possible these decisions are being more thoroughly discussed behind closed doors, but even hours before first pitch Monday night in Seattle, Mendoza laid out a possibility that Tong could be the guy out of the bullpen following Austin Warren as the opener. There should be enhanced clarity and consistency with how Tong will be utilized. 

The San Francisco Giants have faced a lot of much-deserved scrutiny for not playing star prospect Bryce Eldridge everyday, but the same could be said for not having Tong be a fixture in the five-man rotation. The Mets don’t have the luxury the Brewers had almost a decade ago. They are not the same team. They are not the same organization. 

With Holmes out and others not living up to the Mets hopes and dreams, Tong deserves every opportunity to start every fifth day. There will be bumps along the way, but Jonah Tong is ready to be thrusted into action from the very first inning. Right now, it’s just a matter of the Mets fully letting him go.